02: What Makes Hikigaya-kun So Special?
By the time it was evening, she had forgotten all about the boy. He was no one important. A nameless nobody. In fact, she should be more worried about Hayato-kun. Haruno had a chat with her mother over brunch, although her mother refused to call it brunch. She preferred to call it an early lunch, because calling it a late breakfast seemed to irritate her upper class sensibilities. Besides, a Yukinoshita was never late, always on time, sometimes even early, but never late. As an example, mom told the story of how they were born. By now Haruno knew the story by heart. Her mother told it often enough. With her, mom had gone into early labour and it had lasted for just eight hours and Yukino-chan decided to surprise everyone and pop out way to soon, the pregnancy lasting for only thirty-eight weeks.
Haruno couldn't argue with that logic. But she could protest about what her mother had to say next. Apparently nobody bothered to tell her, but Haruno had entered the venerable age where it had become acceptable to look for life partners and think about getting engaged with the idea of being married very much in the cards. And since she was a Yukinoshita, she was quite a catch. It could be said that she was the ideal woman, and as such she would make the perfect wife and be a great mother to her future children.
Haruno nodded along, having no idea where her mother was going with this. But she had already lost her appetite and a slow sense of foreboding and dread was filling up her stomach. She was not naïve enough to believe in fairy tales, and a happily ever after. Such things didn't exist in the real world. But she thought she had a few more years before she finally settled down and tied the knot with a groom her parents chose for her. Had she made a major miscalculation? No, she was Yukinoshita Haruno, she didn't make mistakes.
And that turned out to be true. In fact, it was Hayato-kun who had slipped up. Apparently, in a moment of weakness, when he was feeling rather vulnerable, he had admitted to his mother that he had a crush on her. Not Yukino-chan, but her. And since the matriarch of the Hayama family and the Yukinoshita family were such good friends, Hayato-kun's mother had told her mother about it and broached the idea about their kids getting married in the future.
As Haruno finished brunch with her mother, she wondered whether this was all a big joke. Unfortunately for her, none of the waiters walked upto her side of the table and shouted you have been punk'd, so she had no choice but to believe it was the truth.
Dinner was a fun affair because her mother had given Yukino-chan an ultimatum – either she lets Haruno live with her in the apartment or else she can pack up her things and empty the place and come back to their ancestral home and live with the rest of the family. In the end, it was a no brainer. Yukino-chan did voice a protest or two, but it was just for the sake of it, there was no real steam behind it.
Haruno did feel a little bit guilty about tattling, telling her mother about the boy she had spotted hanging around with their precious Yukino-chan in the mall, and if she lied and said that it looked like the two were out on a date, well, there was no way of knowing for sure that it wasn't the truth. Besides, like their mother pointed out, it was perfectly in character for Yukino-chan to date a no-name boy, be in a relationship with him, just to spite her family and show how independent she had become, only to realize too late that she was in way over head, with no way out, no solution at sight and too proud to ask her family for advice or support.
Her mother did the right thing, asking her to move in with her younger sister in the apartment. Besides, it's what she wanted to do in the first place. It would be fun, like the good ol' days, staying together with her sweet little sister. How fun. Besides, she always thought it was a little unfair that Yukino-chan got her own apartment when she started high school, but she was in university and still had to live with her parents. If you really thought about it, this was a new beginning, a forward step in the right direction, towards adulthood, toward freedom, the bird finally leaving the nest and it was all achieved through clever manipulation and a white lie, because you see, Haruno didn't tell her mother that she had already met with the boy and how he had carefully explained his relationship with Yukino-chan and went on to mention how the two of them hated each other's guts and were most definitely not in love or dating.
But her mother didn't need to know that. Besides, she could still be right in assuming that something was going on between her little sister and that boy. They were both young and stupid and who knew what went on inside a teenager's head. There were hormones to consider and did the puberty fairy visit Yukino-chan yet. It doesn't seem like it. Yukino-chan still seemed kinda flat. Were they really related by blood and shared the same genes, Haruno wondered. Wait a minute, now that she thought about it, their mother had small breasts too.
Whaaa...
Things were slowly starting to make sense.
Yukino-chan was their biological daughter.
She was the one who was adopted.
"Nee-san, kindly eat your food in silence and stop laughing like a lunatic."
"Sorry, sorry." She took a sip from her glass of water. "I just thought of something really funny. You want to hear about it?"
Yukino-chan went back to her food. "No."
There was no other way to say this, but her younger sister was really boring. She didn't even watch the TV while eating her food. Who does that? But it's not like they could really watch something on Netflix. Their tastes were completely different. Yukino-chan was more into documentaries and true crime stories, while she enjoyed comedy specials and movies and shows which had a high rating on IMDB. At the moment she was hooked on this series called The Boys, which kinda surprised her, because she hadn't really bought into the whole superhero craze, but the show was more of a satire which was right up her alley and the actor who played Homelander was really awesome and also kinda hot.
"Yukino-chan, do you want to watch this new series with me?" She began. "It's called The Boys and it's about -!"
Yukino-chan slammed her fist on top of the table. "I know you are upto something nee-san."
There she goes again, she thought with a rueful shake of her head. Always making me out to be big, bad villain of the story. This started out when they were little and it was fine then, because at the time Yukino-chan could live in her world of make-believe, a fantasy world, where there were knights in shining armour to go around, galloping on their noble steed and save the princess who was locked away in the tallest tower of a the highest castle, guarded by a fire breathing dragon and other dark creatures of the night. After all, every fairy tale needed a good ol' fashioned villain. But those days were well behind her and it was in her best interest to understand and truly believe that she was not her enemy. But Haruno had to admit, it was fun being bad.
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
Playing dumb didn't come naturally to her, because she was kinda gifted in the brains department, so she came off sounding insincere and disingenuous at best. But to be honest, she hadn't really been trying. It wasn't worth the effort.
"Hikigaya-kun told me that you met with him today in the cafeteria."
Interesting. So the boy told Yukino-chan about their meeting, even though she particularly asked him to keep it a secret. Generally, guys listened to everything she said and did what they were told. Part of the reason was she didn't ask them to do anything complicated, something which their little minds couldn't handle. It was always a simple and easy task. She did the exact same thing with that boy in Soubu. In fact, she went out of her way and was extra nice to him, plying him with food and buying his silence with a free lunch. This wasn't how she usually worked. Most of the time, while dealing with members of his gender, she used her natural beauty, her charming personality and flashed a nice, big smile to make them comply with her wishes and get what she wanted from them. The trick worked on all kinds of men, those who were single and those who were in happy relationships, older men and younger boys, those who were popular and had a ton of friends and those who were loners and liked to be by themselves. Yet, it didn't work on him. Very interesting.
"You have to admit Yukino-chan, it is a little suspicious." Haruno graced her with an easy going smile. "You of all people, spending your free time with a boy, the same boy who got hit by our family limousine on your way to school. One can't help but wonder, if your heart is in the right place or are you acting out of some misplaced guilt." For a split second there was a sharp glint in her eyes, but it was gone in the next blink. "Or, and this is what I like to believe, you have finally realized that you can't fill the emptiness in your heart by all this Pan-chan merchandise and you have finally made an attempt to make a real friend. If that's the case, I promise to support you and be the best nee-san in the world."
Yukino-chan listened to everything she had to say and her response was simple and to the point. "Hikigaya-kun is not my friend."
Haruno found the glare in her icy blue eyes really cute. It was so funny that she thought that it would have any effect on her. Did she forget that she was her older sister? She had seen it all a hundred of times and by this point she was pretty much immune to it. It was no different than a child throwing a temper tantrum. And she let Yukino-chan know the same. "Ooh. How scary. Well, not really. This kinda reminds me of the time when you took my Bugs Bunny plushie without my permission and I sneaked into your room and took it back."
Yukino-chan was not amused. The glare increased by tenfold. But it still had all the ferocity of a small and sweet little cuddly kitten. "It was an underhanded move. You told me you had outgrown them."
"Doesn't matter." Haruno told her conversationally. "Bugs was still mine." And then she decided to be a big sister about it and tease her a little. "Ah, I still remember what happened the next morning. You were bawling your eyes out. Mom and dad thought you had hurt yourself while playing, but then you said in that cute little baby voice of yours, that you lost Bugs. And Mom had no idea what you were talking about. She thought you were playing with bugs and insects in the garden and something must have bit you. She almost called the house physician. It was so funny!"
By now she was laughing like crazy, a laugh which their mother would have deemed far too 'unwomanly' and would have told her to control herself and stop immediately, but that's what's great about staying at Yukino-chan's apartment. Mom wasn't here and for the first time in her life, she could really just relax and be herself and didn't have to worry about upsetting mom by laughing the wrong way. So what if she embarrassed Yukino-chan in the process. It wasn't the end of the world. Besides, that's what all older sisters ought to do, to strengthen their bond with their younger siblings – they should tease them mercilessly.
"This isn't going to work." Yukino-chan mumbled to herself. "Nee-san, I'm being serious. There is nothing going on between Hikigaya-kun and me. I don't know how you got this preposterous idea stuck in your head, but to make an assumption based on one single encounter is simply ludicrous. We are not in a relationship. We are not even friends. Now, I would like you to inform our mother of the same thing and kindly move out of my apartment."
"Our apartment." Haruno corrected easily. "And I will do no such thing. If you want to have a chat with mom and tell her that you are unhappy with our current living arrangement, be my guest. I won't stop you. But we both know how that conversation will end. Despite what you might think, you are not an adult." She let a sweet little smile sit on her pretty little lips. "But I am."
Haruno was expecting Yukino-chan to loudly exclaim 'Urgh!' in sheer frustration, push her plate away and get up from the table and leave while stomping her feet loudly down the hall to her bedroom. But she did none of those things. Oh my. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a little bit, and adding some needless flourishes, but it was perfectly in character for Yukino-chan to leave her dinner unfinished and go to sleep on an empty stomach when she lost to her in a verbal fight. It made Dad really unhappy, because he didn't like it when people wasted food. But Dad wasn't here and Yukino-chan could do whatever the hell she liked. And as it turns out, from the looks of it, she would very much like to finish her dinner in peace. Haruno wasn't gonna lie. She was a bit surprised. For once in her life Yukino-chan was behaving like a mature adult when she lost a fight to her and not being a sore loser. Now this could be one of two things. Either she had done a whole lot of growing up in the short amount of time that she had been living alone in this apartment or it was due to someone else's good influence.
The boy.
Hikigaya Hachiman.
It made sense.
"You know Yukino-chan," Haruno began, keeping her tone normal, voice conversational. "You keep telling me that there is nothing going on between you and Hikigaya-kun and I do want to believe you. Trust me, I do. But something doesn't make sense." She informed her politely. "I asked Hikigaya-kun to keep our meeting a secret. In fact, it was the very first thing I asked him to do. Yet, from what I can tell, he went and told you everything. He didn't listen to me." Despite her best effort, she couldn't stop herself from putting an extra bit of emphasis on this particular sentence. And from what she could tell, Yukino-chan picked up on it. But it was not a problem. She carried on. "Now, I don't need to tell you this, but when I ask a guy to do something for me, they generally listen to me. But Hikigaya-kun didn't." There was a half baked smile on her face to keep up the façade of a pleasant dinner time conversation. The question she decided to throw in the end was a bit of a gamble. She thought about it for a moment and took the chance. "Why is that?"
To her credit, Yukino-chan remained completely unphased. It was almost like she was expecting this question. And her answer pretty much proved it. "Not all boys are like Hayama-kun."
Ouch.
Let's not open that particular can of worms, Haruno thought.
But she knew how to spin this and somehow make it fit the narrative. "Ah, I see." Haruno nodded her head sagely a couple of times. "Hikigaya-kun is not like Hayato-kun. I get it." A small smile to drive her utterly mad. "Your boy is special."
"He is not mine." Yukino-chan stated and this time she got up from her chair and stood up with a defiant look on her face and a fierce glare in her eyes. The two of them had a small staring contest. A pair of blue eyes blinked first. Haruno focused on finishing the rest of her dinner and Yukino-chan eyed her food in deep contemplation. "Nee-san, does it bother you that there is a boy out there on whom your charms have no effect, who sees you for who you truly are?" Yukino-chan didn't wait for a response or an answer. She already knew, she wouldn't be getting any. Instead, she picked up her plate of food and left for her bedroom.
Being the older sister, Haruno decided to have the last word. "Eating your dinner in the bedroom. Mother would be appalled."
Haruno spoke using a normal tone of voice. Only it was not normal for her given the situation. If she was her usual self, she would have used a voice full of mock horror and make a show of it. Despite trying her level best, her sister's words had an effect on her. And Yukino-chan realized this too. But she decided to be smart about it and left her older sister alone to stew in silence.
"Good night, nee-san."
Haruno took a sip from her glass of water and continued to eat her dinner in silence. She didn't respond to her sister or wish her 'good night'. Because you see, Yukinoshita Haruno was distracted, lost in thought, thinking about a certain boy she had met at Soubu High.
"What makes you so special, Hikigaya-kun?" Haruno wondered out loud.
A/N: The next scene would have featured Hikigaya, but I decided to make it a separate chapter, because I really wanted to post this chapter today. I already spent five days writing this much and I just couldn't wait any longer. I just hope you will still read this chapter and enjoy it even though Hikigaya didn't make an appearance. After all this is Haruno's story and she is the main character.
Also, yeah, this chapter came out of nowhere. I know, I said that I will keep this story up as a one-shot, but here's the thing, I was trying to write another, separate fic – a collection of one-shots featuring Haruno and Hikigaya, but somehow, I kept getting bombarded by ideas of this fic, what I intended to be the next chapter and I just thought that I should write it down and get it out of my system.
Now it's time for some polls –
Poll#1: What Should I Update/Write Next?
Option A: Update Haruno x Hikigaya Fic – The Woman Behind A Thousand Smiles.
Option B: Update Kawasaki x Hikigaya Fic – The Big If.
Option C: Update Yukino x Hikigaya Fic – Friends For Ten Minutes.
Option D: Update Isshiki x Hikigaya Fic – The Fox In The Hen House.
Option E: Update Shiromeguri x Hikigaya Fic – Love Is Like A Box Of Chocolates.
Option F: Update Rumi x Hikigaya Fic – Eighteen and Jealous.
Option 1: Write Miura x Hikigaya Fic.
Option 2: Write Yuigahama x Hikigaya Fic.
Option 3: Write Hiratsuka-sensei x Hikigaya Fic.
Option 4: Write Orimoto x Hikigaya Fic.
Option 5: Write Ebina x Hikigaya Fic.
Option 6: Write Sagami x Hikigaya Fic.
Option VII: Write Kaguya Shinomiya x Hikigaya Fic.
Option VIII: Write Ai Hoshino x Hikigaya Fic.
Option IX: Write Shouko Nishimiya x Hikigaya Fic.
Please pick accordingly.
Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter
Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave
Won't betray your dreams.